Sean Connery Fast Facts

CNN Library

Updated 11:34 AM ET, Mon September 5, 2016

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EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 16: Sir Sean Connery attends the opening film of The Edinburgh Film Festival: The Illusionist on June 16, 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian Jacobs/Getty Images)

(CNN)Here's a look at the life of actor and philanthropist Sean Connery. He is perhaps best known for playing special agent 007, James Bond, in seven films - the most of any actor to play that character.

Timeline:1953 - Connery makes his stage debut in the chorus of the British touring company of the musical "South Pacific."

1955 - He makes his film debut in an uncredited role in the British movie "Lilacs in the Spring."

1961 - Producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli is searching for someone to play super-spy James Bond in his upcoming film and meets Connery.

1962-1967 - Sean Connery is the first James Bond, Agent 007. He plays the character in five consecutive films in the series: "Dr. No (1962)," "From Russia with Love (1963)," "Goldfinger (1964)," "Thunderball (1965)" and "You Only Live Twice (1967)."

November 1965 - Connery admits in an interview with Playboy that he doesn't "think there is anything particularly wrong about hitting a woman--although I don't recommend doing it in the same way that you'd hit a man. An openhanded slap is justified--if all other alternatives fail and there has been plenty of warning."

1967 - Directs and stars in "The Bowler and The Bunnet," a documentary about the Scottish shipbuilding industry's decline.

1987 - In an interview with Barbara Walters, Connery states "I wouldn't change my opinion" about what he said to Playboy in 1965, and stands by his statement that there is "nothing particularly wrong with hitting a woman."

April 11, 1988 - Wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in "The Untouchables."

August 2008 - Connery releases the book "Being a Scot," which is part autobiography and part Scottish history.

2013 - Is involved in efforts to preserve the environmental resources of the Clifton Bay area of the Bahamas from over development, the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay. He owns a home on New Providence Island is in Clifton Bay.